Crackle Paint Technique

Weathering, Distressing & Antiquing Rustic Crafts

Crackle finish started being popular for all kinds of primitive country
crafts a few years ago, and then the craze (pardon the pun) went away.

I still use this finish on some things, and I like it even
better if I can find a piece of furniture or a door that has this look
naturally.

These pieces should be treasured, not stripped down for repainting.

The genuine article is impossible to really copy, so a piece with natural crackling should be kept that way.

You don't have to wait years to get this same appearance of age and patina.

Here’s what I’ve found to emulate that look and reproduce it with some simple ingredients and methods. Even though you'll never be able to copy it exactly, it still gives a great old looking appearance to wood objects and furniture.

Supplies for Crackle Paint Techniques for your crafts:

You'll need several colours of Acrylic Craft Paint, found at dollar stores
everywhere. Make sure you buy new stock as it does tend to dry out in
the bottle as it ages.

In other words, spend the couple of dollars a bottle instead of stock clearance of one dollar which will be wasted.

For the cheapest crackle finish of all find some of that
Elmer’s White Glue, a staple in all elementary schools across North
America; it’s one the most common types of glue and available in any
stationary, box store or dollar store.

I use this as the base, after trying some of those really
expensive crackling medium type products, I’ve found Elmer’s White Glue
to work just as well, and much more economically too.

Get your pieces of carpentry scraps together – if you’re making a rustic wooden box,
attach the pieces first before you paint, as it’s easy to scratch the
finish (rustic is the look we’re after, but this may be a bit much!).

You’ll also need some fine grade sandpaper; a tack cloth or two; several
paint brushes in different sizes and a drop cloth or newspaper to work
on.

First paint the board with a base coat of acrylic craft paint.

This can be any colour you like (or even one you don’t, as only tiny amounts of this will show).

Allow to dry thoroughly, overnight if possible. You can omit this step if you want just the wood colour to show through.

Sand the board to remove any dust that may have stuck to the paint, and wipe with a tack cloth.

Using a slightly damp paint brush spread the glue around until the board is covered.

Now dribble the acrylic paint in your choice of colour over the glue.

With a barely damp clean paintbrush, using strokes down the length of the board with the grain cover the glue completely.

Allow to dry, and watch if you like for the crackling to appear as the paint dries. This method results in a finer crackling.

Variations can be achieved by diluting the Elmer’s White Glue
with up to ten parts water, but I’ve had varying success with this, so
experimenting is the name of the game.

Try mixing a small amount of glue with a few drops of water,
paint it on, then allow to try for a few minutes, then dribble paint and
use a damp brush to spread it.
This will give the effect of more or less crackle.